The UK will be back in recession when official figures are published next month, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has said.

The recovery in Europe remained ‘very weak’, the OECD warned (Picture: AP)

The OECD warned the British economy had contracted 0.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2012, suggesting a quarterly fall of 0.1 percentage points since the final three months of last year.

Official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for the last quarter of 2011 were recently revised downwards to show GDP had fallen 0.3 per cent year-on-year.

If the OECD’s forecast is confirmed by the ONS next month it would see the UK officially re-enter a recession, defined as two consecutive quarters of economic decline.

In its quarterly assessment the OECD predicted a fragile recovery among G7 nations this year but warned the outlook in Europe remained ‘very weak’.

The think-tank’s chief economist Pier Carlo Padoan predicted growth of 1.9 per cent across the G7 – the US, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, UK and Canada – in both the first and second quarters of this year.

While the UK economy would fall 0.4 per cent this quarter and rise 0.5 per cent next quarter, Mr Padoan said, the corresponding figures for the US were much healthier; rises of 2.9 per cent and 2.8 per cent respectively.

George Osborne said in last week’s Budget the UK economy would grow this year (Picture: Reuters)

In Italy meanwhile the situation was worse than Britain, with a contraction of 1.6 per cent this quarter and 0.1 per cent next quarter.

‘Our forecast for the first half of 2012 points to robust growth in the United States and Canada but much weaker activity in Europe, where the outlook remains fragile,’ Mr Padoan said.

‘We may have stepped back from the edge of the cliff, but thereâs still no room for complacency.’

The OECD said rebounding employment rates, higher consumer confidence, higher equity prices and credit growth were underpinning the recovery in the US.

‘Government action will continue to be critical, particularly in the euro area, where unfinished policy business on fiscal frameworks, financial firewalls and fundamental structural reforms must move ahead,’ Mr Padoan added.

In last week’s Budget George Osborne revealed predictions from the Office for Budget Responsibility that the UK economy would grow 0.8 per cent this year and two per cent next year before growth of 2.7 per cent in 2014 and three per cent in 2015 and 2016.